A Bicycle Built for Two
by InspirationPoint
Summary: Matthew has a surprise for Mary! Post Christmas Special. Just a silly piece of M/M engagement fluff! Please read and review.


**A/N:** Spoiler Alert! This takes place after the Christmas Special. There have been internet pics with M/M in a car; this little story takes place sometime _before_ that. Just a little piece of M/M fluff! Hope you enjoy!

"**A Bicycle Built for Two"**

It was the middle of April on a bright spring morning at the Abbey. Mary was enjoying a quiet breakfast with her Papa and Edith, as Edith was perusing a letter from Sir Anthony Strallan and her Papa was finishing up with the _Times_. Carson dutifully watched over the scene, ready to assist the family with whatever they might need.

In the quiet, Mary's thoughts strayed to her upcoming wedding. _Six more weeks._ A small smile slipped over her face, quite unknowingly, as she thought of her fiancé. Their June wedding was the talk of the Abbey since they had become engaged. Granny of course clashed with Cousin Isobel on more than one detail of her wedding, her Mama acting as a sort of referee through most of it. If Mary's opinions were sought after, they were for the smallest of decisions. Mary was glad of it though. Her family had championed their match from the beginning and if planning the wedding for her gave them happiness, then she was all for it. The more they planned without her, meant that much more time spent in the company of the one who would soon be her husband. _Matthew_.

She daydreamed again, her mind's eye conjuring up blond hair combed in the neatest fashion, blue eyes that could see through to her soul, the cut of his white tie and black jacket, and even that silly hat he wore out of doors. She loved everything about him.

Mary thought of their last evening together, where she and Matthew had said their goodbyes after dinner. Her parents trusted her to see off their last guests, Cousin Isobel waiting in the motor car already, with Carson discreetly by the door waiting for Mary to see him off. Matthew had looked at her with such love, but with a mischievous grin on his face, as he took her hand in his and gently lowered his lips to hers, giving her a slow, and loving goodbye kiss. She had sighed in her pleasure, to know that they would have this love, this intimacy for the rest of their days. How lucky she was. How lucky they both were.

"Good night, Mary." His grin went back on his face, his handsome face, and she let go of his hand as he went to join his mother. Just as the new chauffeur was getting inside, Matthew motioned to her, beckoning her to come close to the window.

She walked the few steps closer and peered inside. "Did you forget something Matthew?"

"Actually, I did. I mean, I forgot to ask you something. Would you be so good as to come to Crawley House tomorrow after breakfast? I've got a surprise for you." Matthew looked at her, a bit flustered, as she was so very close to his face, to hear his request better.

"A surprise? Really, Matthew, you know I find surprises so very middle class." She teased him, quite coquettishly in her most haughty tone. She touched his hand that was resting on the window's edge.

"Upper middle class. And I've learned not to listen to the things you say. Would ten o'clock be agreeable?" Matthew placed his other hand on top of hers, gently caressing her knuckles through her gloves.

She pretended to mull over his request, but gave her affirmative answer when he looked at her with those eyes. She was lost in them, and realized she could never say no to him.

"Thank you, darling. Till tomorrow then." He gave her hand one last squeeze, and the motor pulled away into the darkness. She smiled and happily went inside, Carson closing the door behind her.

"Mary. Do you have plans for today? Mary, are you listening?" The Earl of Grantham cleared his throat as his eldest daughter was caught gathering wool in her mind. Mary looked up from her breakfast plate towards her father, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, Papa. Yes, I was planning on meeting Matthew after breakfast. He told me last night, that he has a surprise." She arched her eyebrow, meeting her father's confused face.

"Hmm. I wonder what it could be. He's not said a word about it to me." The Earl looked at Edith, still reading her letter, and then over at Mary again. "Will you need the motor for your journey?"

"No Papa, it's a fine morning and I think the walk will do me good." Mary looked shyly down at her lap.

"Very well. Tell Matthew he and Cousin Isobel are welcome to dine with us tonight, when you see him. Enjoy your surprise." The Earl grinned and continued to read his paper. Mary rose from her seat, eager to start her day and meet Matthew.

XXX

As Mary neared her fiancé's house, she took in the splendid garden, and the well-worn path that led to the door. Soon she would be leaving Downton and living here, with Matthew and Isobel. Years ago when she was a foolish, stubborn girl, she would have been aghast at the thought, but now nothing could give her more pleasure than to be married to a country solicitor and live at Crawley House.

She heard a sound from the back and turned from the path and crossed the lawn, peering over the side of the house. There she saw Matthew, crouched down, holding a wrench near a bicycle tire. He was diligently working, and didn't hear her footsteps coming closer towards him. She quietly tiptoed behind him. Then quickly bent downwards and placed her hands over his eyes.

"Surprise!" She whispered near his ear, and he was so startled that he dropped his tool and stood up, whirling around to face her.

"Mary! You're here! And you're early!" He rushed the words out, hugging her close. "Good morning." She pecked a quick kiss to his cheek, and stood back to look at him properly.

Mary smiled, having succeeded in flustering him, and looked her fill. He seemed to be nervous, and made sure that she didn't have a view of what he'd been working on.

"So is that my surprise? What is under there?" Mary moved towards the bicycle, noting that a large sheet covered most of it, except for the front wheel.

Matthew saw her intent and made to intercept her curiosity. He moved his body between her eyes and what was under the sheet.

"No peeking yet, Mary. Not until I receive a proper good morning kiss."

He grasped her hands and kissed her again, reveling in the feel of her soft lips, the way she tilted her head and deepened her desire. She daringly touched her tongue to his, but quickly brought the kiss under control. They were outside in public after all. She pulled away, and touched her fingers to his lips, tracing their contours, until he smiled at her.

"Good morning. Now can I see what it is?" She said a little impatiently, knowing that if this were her surprise, it contained a bicycle wheel. She groaned a little internally. But knew that whatever Matthew gave her, was from the heart, meant to make her happy, and that was all that mattered.

"Patience, Lady Mary, patience." Matthew teased her, "Close your eyes."

Mary closed them, and heard him rustling the sheet, and then felt his hands upon her eyes. He whispered from behind, "Keep them closed." She felt him shuffle his feet forward and made to move her closer to her surprise.

"Okay, open them!" He took his hands off her eyes and her jaw dropped with the sight of what was in front of her.

It was the strangest contraption she'd ever seen. It had two bicycle wheels, but was very much longer than a normal bicycle. It had a pair of handles towards the middle, right behind the first seat, and an extra set of pedals. She looked towards him, fear creeping into her voice.

"Matthew, what on earth is it? It's a bicycle but…"

"It's a tandem bicycle! See it has two seats, two sets of everything on one frame. Isn't it wonderful?" Matthew pointed out the features as he talked, but all she could do was close her mouth in confusion.

"But surely, Matthew, you don't expect me to…"

Matthew, in all of his excitement showing her the apparatus that was surely to kill her in the near future, interrupted her unknowingly.

"Won't it be lovely, Mary? Riding out together, having an afternoon picnic far away from Downton, whenever we like? Being alone?" He gathered her in a warm embrace, kissing her forehead and looking at her, waiting for her response.

"Um, yes! Very lovely, darling." She smiled a tight-lipped smile, and looked again over his shoulder at the _what did he call it? tandem bicycle_, she thought with a shudder. She'd need intricate instructions on where to place her skirt and legs on the contraption.

"I'm so happy. Here, let's try it out."

Mary slowly walked besides him, not having the heart to tell him she was in no way a rider. Indeed, she had never learned as she remembered her Cousin Patrick riding a bicycle around the estate, and Nanny had scolded her not to even think to try, as well-groomed ladies like Mary did not ride bicycles. She thanked Nanny silently for forbidding the act, as surely now she had the excuse not to get on the thing.

"But Matthew, I don't know how to ride one of these…" She looked down at the twisting metal, picturing herself flying into a ditch.

"It's easy, I'll teach you. And really, you'll be in the back. Can you pedal? That's all you have to do, hold on to the handle bars and pedal. You'll be fine." He gave her a quick kiss and grabbed the bicycle, pushing it from its resting place by the side of the house.

She looked at him with a skeptical eye, and back to the bicycle. The back of it looked small and cramped, and how was she to see where they were going if she was behind him?

"How will I turn? How does it stop? I've no idea!" Mary, in truth, looked a bit frightened at the prospect of riding down a hill with no means of braking. She twisted her hands together.

"Don't worry; I'll be handling the braking and the steering. Here, why don't you get on? Just put your hands here on the handles, and ahem, your leg goes over this part here." He was shyly pointing out the bar that sloped downwards in the back that she'd have to put her one leg over. Thankfully, the bar was low enough that her skirts wouldn't interfere with her pedaling. Matthew was staring at her legs, watching her move over and sit on the seat, with her feet apart on the ground. He looked up to her face, and he knew he was caught staring at her lower body.

"That's good, very good. I'm going to get on, and let's have a little circle around the house. Here we go." Matthew held the bike, but before he got on, he told her, "Once I start pedaling, take your one foot off the ground and put it on a pedal, make sure you have your balance and then take the other one off the ground and start pushing down to pedal. That's all there is to it."

In a last ditch effort not to ride this monstrosity underneath her, she asked him one last question.

"But darling, what about your back? Surely Dr. Clarkson would object to this! It isn't fully healed yet." She placed a loving hand to his forearm, rubbing up and down.

"That's part of the surprise Mary, Clarkson told me last week that my back is strong enough to brave a bicycle, as long as the terrain is even and that I don't fall. I was so happy with the news! And I bought this to celebrate, with you, so that you could learn to enjoy it as much as I do. "

With Matthew's heartfelt words, her guilt increased until she sighed and leaned over to hug him.

"Oh Matthew, why didn't you tell me? I'm so happy to hear that." With that Mary sucked up all the courage she had within, and kissed him, whispering, "Let's go, then!" She smiled as he released her, and he promised, "Mary, I won't let anything happen. Trust me."

He got on the bicycle and with a few scoots and shuffles, his feet left the ground, and he started to pedal, with Mary remembering his instructions, holding on tight to the handles, and pedaling when she had her balance maintained. They made it to the front of the house and around towards the road.

"Matthew! I'm pedaling! Look, I'm doing it!" She excitedly yelled to the back of his head, and he twisted around to give her a quick glance. "Well done, Mary! Keep pedaling!"

Before she knew it, they were on the road towards the Abbey, a big smile on her face, the wind whipping over her head. Mary couldn't believe she was actually enjoying herself! They continued a leisure pace towards her home, Mary looking out to the gentle sloping fields, the wonder of spring time beauty all around them. She boldly placed one hand around Matthew's waist, giving him a quick squeeze before she found the handlebar once again.

With that, Mary could hear a faint song coming from him, getting louder as she leaned her ear closer towards him.

_Mary, Mary, give me your answer, do,_

_I'm half crazy all for the love of you._

_It won't be a stylish marriage -_

_I can't afford a carriage_

_But you'd look sweet on the seat_

_Of a bicycle built for two._

His voice grew softer as he sung the last bit of the chorus. She smiled a watery smile through her tears. He could have easily never had the pleasure of riding a bicycle again, of walking again. She quickly wiped a hand over her face, brushing the tears away.

"Matthew." He looked back at her quickly and lovingly smiled at her. "I love you."

"I love you, Mary. Now shall we ride to the Abbey and show off your new skills?" She nodded her approval.

They continued their journey until they came to the front of the big house. Both were happy with their short and safe trip. Matthew got off first and held the bicycle steady for Mary.

But just as Mary swung her foot over the bar, her skirt twisted underneath her feet and she fell quite unceremoniously to the gravel below her.

"Oh Mary!" Matthew had the reflexes to try and stop her fall, but with the heavy bicycle in his hands, he didn't let off his grip and watched helplessly as his fiancée fell to the ground.

Mary was more shocked than hurt; she couldn't believe it really, how her usual graceful self had fallen! She picked herself up and dusted off her skirt, as Matthew stood by watching.

"Are you quite all right? Did you hurt anything?" Matthew asked her worriedly, silently cursing himself that any harm came to her.

"Just my pride. Really, I'm fine. No need to call Clarkson for this." Mary joked, hoping to ease the worry in his eyes. She walked towards the door that Carson held open for them, a gleam in the butler's eyes as he couldn't believe what he had just witnessed.

"So you're not angry, then?"

"Of course not, darling. Perhaps, maybe our next ride could be a little less eventful, at least at the end! Thank you very much for the surprise, Matthew." Mary kissed his cheek and placed a hand where she had kissed him, and went inside, and as he followed her, Matthew thought of another surprise, something that would be less injurious for everyone.

A week later, Matthew drove their new, blue colored motor car to the front of the Abbey, and shouted, "Mary! Come, I have a surprise for you!"

The End


End file.
